Shall Accept Rape Survivor's Testimony If Father Is The Rapist, Says Delhi High Court

The court's observation came during the hearing of an appeal by a man, guilty of raping his daughter.

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A rape survivor's testimony can be accepted without corroboration, especially in a case where the rapist is her father, the Delhi High Court remarked.

The observation of the court was made during the latest hearing of an appeal by a man who had been held guilty of raping his own 17 year-old daughter.

In November 2009, Justice Pratibha Rani of a trial court had sentenced the man to a jail term of seven year after the accusation of raping his daughter was proved correct.

While dealing with the case of rape wherein the offender is none else but the father, the version of the prosecutrix can be accepted without any corroboration. In the statement of the prosecutrix, there are no material contradictions except about the date or the month.

"This court cannot ignore that she is illiterate and put her thumb impression on the complaint as well as on FIR. She being an illiterate person may not be able to give specific date and time or the month or the year," the court said.

The conviction was contested by the man, citing discrepancies in his daughter’s testimony.

The court denied the contentions of the man, noting that the alleged discrepancies did not hold water and that the victim’s testimony was unfailingly dependable.

The evidence too, clearly indicated the victim was subjected to the crime by her father.

"The medical evidence corroborated the testimony of the prosecutrix to the extent that her hymen was found ruptured. Minor contradictions or discrepancy appearing in her statement as pointed out by counsel for the appellant (man) cannot be treated a ground for disregarding otherwise reliable testimony which proved the prosecution case beyond reasonable doubt," the court noted.

The victim was raped by her father on several occasions after her mother’s death in 2008. She was also beaten up on any signs of resistance showed, according to the prosecution.